Help Miss Scarlet's horn has laryngitis!

[Geezer Cruzzer]

We live in a small town and Miss Scarlet is our grocery getter and errand runner. Can't remember the last time I used the horn. It may have been a couple years. Yesterday, I tried to use the horn and all it did was make a very quiet beep. Gee, my wife snores louder than that. During the drive I kept pressing each of the three buttons and only got the same quiet beep. Finally, about the time I got home and the horn started honking properly. Checked it this morning first thing and its honking. If it hadn't started working I was going to bang it with a rubber mallet. I just love this old truck with its occasional surprises.

 

[charliemeyer007]

Weak ground.

 

[B y r o n]

The horn button contacts will oxidize over time. The oxidation will limit the voltage going to the horns thus the whimpering you were hearing. Your repeated attempts to make them sound off probably cleaned off enough of the oxidation to allow the horns to finally sound off like they should. If you spray the contacts with electrical contact cleaner it should keep things clean for a little longer.

 

[Geezer Cruzzer]

That makes sense to me. Use it or lose it. Thanks!

 

[Geezer Cruzzer]

Weak ground.

I'll put the multimeter on it this afternoon.

 

[pb4ugo]

You can probably open up the housing and clean it up inside. I think Coolerman has a tutorial on his website. I found instructions somewhere around here.

 

[SteveH]

My horn was weak and erratic for years, and I found the contacts on the horn and harness were lightly corroded, even though they had dielectric grease on them. A thorough cleaning of the horn contacts (male) and harness (female) fixed it. My '78 does not have a horn relay, so that wasn't part of the problem. Earlier, I also took apart the steering wheel and cleaned under the horn buttons, but that wasn't ultimately the problem.